Keita’s Agent Slams Klopp For Benching Guinean Against Chelsea
Naby Keita’s agent, Malick Kebe, has hit out at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for benching the Guinean midfielder against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liverpool failed to take advantage of Chelsea’s numerical disadvantage at Anfield after Reece James was sent off for handball on the cusp of half-time.
Mohamed Salah’s penalty cancelled out Kai Havertz’s opener for Chelsea, with both sides walking away with a point.
Klopp opted to start Keita from the bench and chose not to turn to the former Red Bull Salzburg midfielder as one of his three substitutes.
Keita started in Liverpool’s opening two Premier League wins against Norwich City and Burnley.
Kebe, who has criticised Klopp in the past for playing Keita out of position, was not happy with the former Borussia Dortmund manager’s decision to overlook his client and blamed him for Liverpool’s failure to take all three points.
‘It’s really hard for me to understand Klopp, you have to be him to put Naby Keita on the bench right now in this form,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘Your super coach is solely responsible for this draw against Chelsea.’
Keita has endured fitness problems since joining Liverpool from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2018 and made just 10 Premier League appearances last season.
